Knights have strong showing at Division II State Meet

ZACH MASON heaves the discus in action at the Division II State Meet in Pelham on Saturday. Joshua Spaulding. (click for larger version)

June 02, 2014

WOLFEBORO — The Kingswood track team got some great individual performances at the Division II State Meet on Saturday, May 31, at Pelham High School, sending a few athletes on to the Meet of Champions.

As he has done for much of the season, senior Dylan Tarbox led the Knights on Saturday, qualifying for the Meet of Champions in a pair of individual events.

In the 300-meter hurdles, Tarbox raced to a time of 41.47 seconds, which placed him third overall.

In the 200 meters, Tarbox snagged a fourth place finish, crossing the finish line in a time of 23.29 seconds.

Junior Zach Mason also punched his ticket to the Meet of Champions, as he came up with a huge throw of 131 feet, four inches in the discus, setting a new school record and earning him a second place finish overall.

"He threw against some great throwers," coach Paul Harvey noted. "That last kid (Kai Kleyensteuber of Stevens) just got him."

Both throwers made their top throws in their final attempts, with the Stevens athlete actually being the final overall thrower on the day.

John Lemay also picked up a point for the Knight boys, as he threw his way to sixth overall in the shot put with a toss of 42 feet. Teammate Abe DeMaio came home one spot back, throwing 40 feet, 6.5 inches for seventh place.

The Knight boys also earned a pair of points in the 4X100-meter relay, as the team of Clancy Mason, DeMaio, Tarbox and Tappan finished in fifth place with a time of 45.44, just missing out on the school record.

In the 4X400-meter relay event, the team of Clancy Mason, Ben Craycraft, Tarbox and Tappan finished in 12th place in 3:53.62, while the 4X800-meter relay team of Brodie Deshaies, Colin Willett, Owen Gwizdala and Sean Stackhouse came home in 11th place in 9:06.03.

Craycraft also qualified in a pair of individual events, as he finished seventh in the long jump with a distance of 19 feet, one inch and finished in ninth in the triple jump with a distance of 38 feet, 11.5 inches.

Tappan qualified in the 100 meters as well, finishing ninth overall in the preliminaries with a time of 11.9 seconds.

Overall, the Knight boys finished eighth on the day, tied with Sanborn and Merrimack Valley with 21 points. Lebanon was the overall winner, with Portsmouth finishing in second place.

The Knight girls didn't pick up any points on the day, but did come away with some solid finishes to round out the season.

The top Knight finisher on the day was Rachael Steensma, who jumped four feet, eight inches in the high jump to earn eighth place overall.

Fellow sophomore Emma Danais qualified in the 100 meters and finished 11th overall in the preliminaries with a time of 13.55 seconds.

Freshman Mary Kretchmer earned a spot in the 1,600 meters and placed 10th overall in a time of 5:47.37.

Sophomore Kirsten Gehl raced in the 100-meter hurdles and recorded a time of 18.78 seconds, which placed her 16th overall.

The Knight girls also competed in two relay events. The team of Danais, Emma Bellefleur, Brynn Jeddrey and Annie Peternel finished in 18th place in 55.92 seconds in the 4X100-meter relay and in the 4X400-meter relay, the team of Corrina Chasse, Danais, Kretchmer and Raistlin Bittues finished in 12th place in 4:30.18.

With their top-four finishes, Tarbox and Mason both earned automatic bids to the Meet of Champions, while the 4X100-meter team had a chance to earn an at-large bid.

The Meet of Champions will take place on Saturday, June 7, at 2:30 p.m. at Londonderry High School.

Joshua Spaulding can be reached at 569-3126 or sportsgsn@salmonpress.com